Toastmasters Speakeasy II Club
Boulder, Colorado
Mondays 7pm - 8:30pm

  "A Speakeasy club had existed for many years in Boulder, but I'm not sure how many. As far as I know, it had always been a dinner meeting club at a local restaurant in a private banquet room. I was sent to CU to teach in the ROTC program for three years from 1976-1979. I immediately joined the club in the fall of '76. The membership was restricted by the club's bylaws to men only. At that time, this was not all that unusual for clubs of this type, believe it or not. Boulder being a progressive town, there were some members who believed that the club should expand its membership to include women. This was around 1979 or '80. The subject of admitting women to Speakeasy Toastmasters was very controversial at that time and a fairly lengthy period ensued when members who were pro-inclusion brought prospective women candidates as guests to the meetings. Ultimately, a formal proposal was made to change the by-laws and allow women members to join.

  The night of the vote, attendance was standing room only. When the secret written ballot was taken, the proposal to amend the by-laws in favor of admitting women failed by one vote! Not long afterwards, several of the pro-women membership members, including me, resigned from Boulder Speakeasy and started Speakeasy II, welcoming women members. I don't remember the exact chronology, but the old, all male Boulder Speakeasy did not survive very long as a males-only club. I think the current Chamber Speakeasy may be able to trace its roots back to that original Speakeasy club, but I'm not sure. Obviously, our Speakeasy II survived to this day as "The Best Toastmasters Club in the Universe", thriving with mixed gender membership. "